'Lincoln' director announced as president of next Cannes Film Fest jury days after losing the Oscar

Three days after losing the Oscar for Best Director, the “Lincoln” and “Schindler’s List” filmmaker announced he’ll head the jury at May’s Cannes Film Festival, which has been recruiting him for the gig for years.

“My admiration for the steadfast mission of the Festival to champion the international language of movies is second to none,” the 66-year-old said in a press statement.

Cannes has played an important role at several key moments in Spielberg’s career, awarding the filmmaker, then 27, the Best Screenplay prize in 1974 for his first fillm, “The Sugarland Express,” and nominating the movie for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top honor.

In 1982, Cannes hosted the world premiere of “E.T.,” a fun factoid to visualize: all those glamorous A-listers gathering on the French Riviera to watch a movie about an alien who loves Reese’s Pieces.

After praising Spielberg as “the equal of the very greatest Hollywood filmmakers,” the press release closes on an endearingly down-to-earth note, reporting, “Steven Spielberg was born in Ohio in 1946.”

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